


words left unsaid

by Anonymous



Category: A Pink (Band), BTOB
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Late Night Conversations, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-15 00:56:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18487981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: See, Lee Changsub has always been a constant in Chorong’s life: since her training period, to the time when she’d debuted with Apink a year earlier than Changsub himself got to debut, to now-- Lee Changsub has always been there. It scares her, really, to think that tomorrow, her best friend will suddenly cease becoming a constant, not easily reachable in a minute through phone calls and messages anymore.or: Changsub enlists tomorrow and Chorong still hasn't said everything she wants to say.





	words left unsaid

**Author's Note:**

> hello!  
> \- for this fic let us pretend that 91-line had dinner prior to changsub's enl*stment date Pls  
> \- there is a lot that i do not understand/know abt conscription in south korea; im really truly sorry if there are things said/mentioned here that arent right :( i did read a few articles but i just,, still dont understand it that much :( pls understand thank u!!!  
> 

The night has ended, Chorong thinks. They’re going home now. She bids everyone goodbye: Youngsun, Hoya, Jinyoung, and Changsub-- except, Changsub offers to give her a ride home, so she wouldn’t need to call her manager or a cab.

This isn't something unusual; Changsub is a nice guy, a gentleman some might even say, and he takes care of the people in his life. Chorong should know, they’ve been friends since they were trainees, and now they’re both established idols, considered seniors now. She even thinks it’s taken  _ too long _ for Changsub and his group to be established, but she thinks the wait was definitely worth it. But now Changsub is going to be gone for a while, just like Eunkwang, and she thinks even such long years of friendship haven’t really prepared her for this.

See, Lee Changsub has always been a constant in Chorong’s life: since her training period, to the time when she’d debuted with Apink a year earlier than Changsub himself got to debut, to  _ now _ \-- Lee Changsub has  _ always _ been there. It scares her, really, to think that tomorrow, her best friend will suddenly cease becoming a constant, not reachable in a minute through phone calls and messages anymore.

_ It’s only for two years _ , she reminds herself.  _ Just two years, or even less. _

“Hey,” Changsub calls. “What are you staring at?”

Chorong scowls. “Nothing.”

“Let’s go,” he tells her, and he starts walking to the parking lot.

“What’s the rush?” she calls out, and he turns around to face her. “ _ What’s the rush? _ ” she repeats.

“What, you don’t wanna go home?” he mocks, in that stupidly nasal voice Chorong actually loves. “Fine, I’ll leave you here.” He starts walking again, knowing that Chorong has no other choice than to follow him back to his car.

And she does end up following him, but not after yelling, “Hey!” and rolling her eyes at him even though he wasn’t even facing her. 

 

The inside of Changsub’s car is already familiar to Chorong. She’s thankful that people don’t really seem to mind the two of them being seen together often, glad that that both their groups kind of have this reputation of having members who are really  _ just  _ good friends. They originally came from the same company, after all, and she guesses that during the time they were up and coming, people weren’t too sensitive about male-and-female idol relationships yet.

This  _ reputation _ is what actually scares her. It scares her that,  _ if  _ her friendship with Changsub ever goes beyond  _ just friendship _ , too many things might change. People might lose their trust and end up having too much to say about her, about him, about both of their respective group members. 

It’s an  _ if _ she’s not sure she’s willing to risk.

It’s an  _ if _ she’s not even sure he’s been thinking about, as well.

Does he even feel that way about her, too? Should she even tell him? She’s gone on years and years without telling him, surely a few more years won’t hurt. Surely, a few more years are going to make her feelings fade-- especially two more years of close to no contact. This is what she tries to tell herself, has really been trying to tell herself all these years.

Was it all even worth it? The waiting, her repressing her feelings, trying to push it all down for the sake of both their careers  _ and _ , most specially, their friendship? 

Will it be wrong to admit how she really feels tonight?

Changsub’s generic ringtone starts blaring inside the silent car, a thousand times louder than it should be, distracting Chorong from her rhoughts.

“Can you please--,” Changsub starts to say, but Chorong is already reaching for the phone. 

**_Yook Jjaldo_ ** _ is calling. _

“It’s Sungjae,” she tells him. She doesn’t wait for Changsub’s reply and answers the call; it’s fine, though, this has happened a lot of times before, it’s always Sungjae who’s calling, too.

“Hyung--!” the voice from the other end greets.

“Sungjae-yah,” she cuts him off.

“Oh-- Chorong-noona?” 

“Yeah.”

“Where’s Changsub-hyung?”

“Driving.”

“Oh… Can you tell him to call me back later?” 

“Sure.”

“Okay. Bye, noona.”

“Bye,” and with that, Chorong ends the call. As she places the phone back on the dashboard, she tells Changsub, “Sungjae says to call him back later.”

The male sighs exaggeratedly, like he does so every so often whenever Sungjae bothers him out of nowhere. “What does he need this time?” he asks, more to himself.

_ More time with you _ , Chorong thinks. She knows that’s what she needs  _ and _ wants, too. Just a little more time with Changsub, her best friend for almost ten years, before he enlists tomorrow afternoon and she can’t see him that much anymore. It isn’t even like she sees him that often, too, but him enlisting means that what few times she gets to spend with him will be even fewer, if not none at all.

“Why would he need more time with me?” Changsub scoffs, and Chorong realizes she might’ve whispered it out loud.

She shrugs, trying to play it lightly. “You know those kids,” she says, “I’m sure they’re gonna miss you. Not just Sungjae. Not just your fans and family, too.”

There’s a pause, long enough for Chorong to think if there was something wrong with what she said. It’s true that the younger ones  _ are _ going to miss him, it’s apparent in the way they talk about Eunkwang, who has enlisted a couple months ago; even  _ she  _ and her own members miss Eunkwang, too. Then,

“You gonna miss me, too?” Changsub asks, glancing at her briefly as he stops at a red light. 

Chorong forces a laugh, rolls her eyes, even though she knows all too well that she’s practically transparent in Changsub’s eyes-- it’s also apparent in the way he chuckles lightly as he waits for five more seconds for the light to turn green. Just as it finally does, she says, “I don’t want to go home yet.”

 

Chorong has never been to the Namsan Tower at night before, and she thinks the view looks a lot prettier and calmer. The colorful city lights dance along the horizon, bright against the midnight blue sky. 

“This place is about to close, you know?” Changsub suddenly whispers from behind her, almost making her jump and actually making her scream. They gather looks from the few other people there, glad that they’re both wearing masks so they aren’t too recognizable; although, in the periphery of her vision, Chorong could see a few whispering between themselves. It’s not something they both aren’t used to, anyway. 

“Stop doing that,” Chorong whines, hitting Changsub’s arm. He exaggeratedly rubs the are her fist made contact with, mouthing  _ Ow! _ Chorong just rolls her eyes and laughs. She’s really going to miss this.

“It really  _ is _ about to close,” Changsub says again. He’s moved from behind to beside her, looking out into the city. He checks his watch. “In about fifteen minutes or so.”

Chorong checks hers, as well, and sees that it’s almost 11 PM, and the Namsan Tower is only open until that time during Sundays. She looks up from her watch and stares at what’s in front again, admiring the sky and the lights, before reluctantly turning away. She almost reaches for Changsub’s hand when she starts walking, but she catches herself. When she turns back to make sure he’s following her, the look on his face makes it seem like he was almost expecting her to hold out her hand, too.

 

“Thanks for dinner earlier, by the way,” Chorong says. 

They drove to the Han River, neither of them really wanting to go home, leaning against the hood of Changsub’s parked car, staring out at water illuminated by lights. It’s now a little past twelve midnight, officially the day Changsub enlists, and Chorong wishes neither of them wants the night to end, too. 

“Wouldn’t be treating anyone to dinner in the next two years so it’s fine,” Changsub replies, and Chorong could only sigh in response. “You tired?” he asks. Chorong shakes her head no. “Me, neither.”

They stay there for a while, waiting for-- god knows what they’re both waiting for, really.  For the sun to shine? For one of them to get too tired and ask to finally go home? For either one of their managers to look for them and call? For Changsub to need to go home because he’s enlisting in a few hours? For Chorong to finally say everything else she wants to say? 

What else does she want to say?

_ I love you. _

She’s said those words before, albeit playfully and under the influence of alcohol, and more than just a few times, too, probably. But she thinks those times she’s told him that have never really conveyed as much meaning as she would’ve liked, because she really does love him, in every sense of the word.

“I reallydidn’t wanna say this,” Changsub suddenly says, “but I’ll miss a lot of people.”

Chorong glances at him and smiles. “I’m sure a lot of people will miss you, too.” She expects him to ask her again if she’ll miss him, and she’s ready to answer  _ Yes _ this time. 

Except, Changsub asks a different question, one Chorong isn’t expecting.

“You’ll wait for me, right?”

Her answer is still the same, though.

“Yes.”

He seems mildly surprised, but the soft smile playing on his lips shows that he’s pleased, too. “Really?” he teases. “Two years is a long time, you know?”

“I know,” Chorong answers, weakly hitting Changsub on the arm. She thinks-- _ again _ \--of all the words left unsaid. Maybe she doesn’t have to say those words anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading! i just wanted to write short changrong bc i rly miss changsub :( i was supposed to write this before enlistment tbh thats why the 91-line lunch out became dinner (bc i originally planned it as dinner heh) but i just,, got too sad abt it aahsfa but anyway thanks again!
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> [curiouscat](http://www.curiouscat.me/straychz)


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